1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to the field of containers and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to portable bucket-like containers for use in cleaning of floors.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art.
As has been discussed in my copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 904,146, entitled, "PORTABLE CLEANING CONTAINER", filed Sept. 5, 1986, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference, the use of bucket-like containers in the mopping or cleaning of floors has long been practiced and such containers have been designed specifically for these purposes by providing the containers with wheels to facilitate movement about a floor. In use, containers used for this purpose contain a cleaning solution in which a mop can be immersed for transfer of the solution to a floor; and it is also known to provide such a container with a wringer to remove excess cleaning solution from the mop. Such wringers are mounted on the container during cleaning operations and are operable by a handle to squeeze the mop between a wall of the wringer and a movable plate. For convenience of use, the movable plate is spring biased away from such wall of the wringer and the wringer comprises a mechanical linkage between the plate and the handle that extends the handle longitudinally of the wringer body at such times that the plate is displaced from such wall so that the handle extends generally vertically from the container upon which the wringer is mounted.
Prior to the invention of the portable cleaning container disclosed in my above-referenced United States Patent Application, a number of problems existed with prior art containers used in the cleaning of floors or the like. In particular, mop strings and other detritus in the cleaning solution can clog a drain into which a container is emptied after a cleaning operation so that the blockage must be cleared by hand. Such clearing is an unpleasant task made even more unpleasant by the caustic nature of many cleaning compounds, especially compounds used in commercial settings. Additionally, prior to such invention, removal of detritus from a cleaning container was often a difficult procedure involving lifting of the cleaning container while a water spray was directed into the interior thereof. The cleaning container disclosed in my copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 904,164, provided a major advance in overcoming these problems by providing a cleaning container that could be drained through an external filter via an integral valve positioned exteriorly of the container. The external filter of this cleaning container catches detritus within the filter and cleaning of the filter can be accomplished with no lifting of the container.
However, some problems were not addressed and other problems not completely solved by the cleaning container disclosed in my above-referenced U.S. patent application. In particular, some difficulties have been experienced with the container drainage and filtering systems of the cleaning container disclosed in my copending application in circumstances in which large amounts of detritus are contained in the cleaning container after use. In these circumstances, the detritus can clog the valve with which this cleaning container is provided and, additionally, the filter of such container can become overloaded so that detritus spills about the filter to enter a drain. Moreover, the cleaning container disclosed in my copending application did not address problems that arise in the storage of the cleaning container between mopping operations nor problems associated with shipping cleaning containers from the point of manufacture to commercial outlets.